GameofThrones’ Emilia Clarke Cast in Han Solo Spinoff Movie

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Directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller. Alden Ehrenreich. Donald Glover. Until today, the identity of that small crew was all we knew about the upcoming Han Solo standalone movie. Now we can add the Mother of Dragons herself to that team: Game of Thrones’ Emilia Clarke has been cast as the film’s female lead.

It’s yet another coup for the movie, which takes place before Star Wars: Episode IV—A New Hope and follows the adventures a young Han Solo (Ehrenreich). First, it was big news that Lego Movie directors Lord and Miller were tackling yet another fan-beloved property. Next, Hail Caesar’s breakout star Ehrenreich landed the title role. Then, in what seemed like a trifecta, Glover came aboard to play Lando Calrissian. Clarke now joins that team. Her character doesn’t yet have a name, but she’ll be part of a “dynamic cast of characters that Han and Chewie will encounter on their adventures.”

If there’s a small downside to the casting, it’s that Lord and Miller had been testing other actresses throughout the fall, including Tessa Thompson, Kiersey Clemons, Zoë Kravitz, Naomi Scott, and fellow Game of Thrones cast member Jessica Henwick. Of those floated in Variety’s story on the casting, Clarke is the only white actress. But considering Clarke must be playing an all-new character, and she’s spent the better part of the last decade playing one of the most confident and powerful female characters on television, she’s a great pick. All that’s left is to make sure Clarke’s role lives up to her abilities.

Dave Chappelle Is Releasing 3 Comedy Specials on Netflix

Dave Chappelle, who recently gave fans some post-election catharsis while hosting Saturday Night Live, is coming to Netflix. The comedian will be doing three specials for the streaming service—all scheduled to be released simultaneously in 2017.

“Dave Chappelle is a legendary voice in comedy—searing, vital, and now more than ever, essential,” Lisa Nishimura, Netflix’s head of original documentary and comedy, told the The Hollywood Reporter. “Dave’s three new specials promise to be some of the most anticipated events in comedy, and we are honored he will mark his global return on Netflix.”

One of the new shows will be an original stand-up special produced for Netflix and the two others are previously unseen gigs from Chappelle’s own collection, according to THR.

Last night, Stephen Colbert and Samantha Bee told the same joke. Well, mostly. After each started their late-night monologues with a “How was your weekend?” quip, they both dove right into the national topic du jour: President-elect Donald Trump’s transition to the White House. Specifically, they took jabs at Trump’s choice for chief of staff, Reince Priebus, by making anagrams of his name.

On The Late Show, Colbert called the Republican National Committee chair “Penis Rice a Roni.” And on Full Frontal, Bee rearranged the letters of his name to spell “Eerie R.N.C. Pubis.” (In case you’re wondering, Bee’s example is a legit anagram of Priebus’ name, Colbert’s is not.) In both cases, the jokes got LoLs, but they also got us thinking: Surely there were some great potential Priebus anagrams they didn’t use, right? We took this challenge to Wordsmith.org, which found 9,463 possible outcomes for “Reince Priebus”—while most of those were gibberish, there’s more than one icier pun rebus that Bee and Colbert missed. Consider these our favorites:

John Oliver Sums Up Election 2016 in One Devastating LastWeekTonight Episode

A brief history of what happened on TV yesterday (excluding sports and Westworld): cable news discussed President-elect Donald Trump’s transition into the White House and John Oliver summed up the entire election in 30 minutes. The latter was a searing indictment of the former.

“Keep reminding yourself: This is not normal,” Oliver told his audience. “Because a Klan-backed, misogynist Internet troll is going to be delivering the next State of the Union address—and that is not normal.”

Oliver closed his show—the last of the year—with a tribute to 2016, collecting man-on-the-street interviews about why this has been “an uncommonly shitty year.” Watch the whole thing above; it’s pretty much the entire election season (and beyond) encapsulated in one TV segment. Whether or not you believe that is up to you, because—as the host notes—after this election “there is no longer a consensus on what a fact is.”

First GhostintheShell Trailer Shows Major on a Mission

Not satisfied with trailers that are only ten seconds long? Then we have some good news for you, Ghost in the Shell fans! After teasing the film with a series of very bald cuts back in September, the first full trailer for the manga/anime adaptation dropped today and it is far more visually satisfying. Set to a cover of Depeche Mode’s “Enjoy the Silence” by Ki: Theory, it shows human-cyborg Major (known as Major Motoko Kusanagi in the original Ghost, and played here by Scarlett Johansson) on two missions: to lead the Section 9 task force and to find out who she truly is. (Not shown: Why Johansson was cast to play an Asian character.) The visuals look stunning, the action seems fun, and—incidentally—the humanoid stuff feels a little Westworld-y now. Ghost in the Shell hits theaters March 31, 2017. Until then, enjoy the movie’s first trailer above.

New RogueOne Trailer: A Fierce Rebellion Begins

The fantasy story of a female-led insurgency against a domineering Empire seemed like space opera escapism only a few days ago. But now that people are protesting the election of Donald Trump in cities across the US, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story—and its ragtag group of rebels out to defeat a new regime—feels a lot more au courant than it did just last week.

We got the final US trailer last month, but now there’s an international trailer that gives even more information about how Jyn Erso and the rest of her team steal the plans for the Empire’s super weapon. This new trailer is also far more forthcoming about that plot—like, for example, Jyn finally actually utters the words, “Death Star,” and there are shots of the space station moving. It’s kind of terrifying to see it rise in the sky above a planet, get in position for a weapons test, and destroy the surface of it while blotting out the sun.

Less terrifying are the new shots that flash back to Jyn’s childhood. A woman, presumably Jyn’s mother, puts a necklace with a clear crystal around her neck. Jyn is still wearing that crystal as an adult—part of the mounting evidence that it’s a kyber crystal, the mineral used to create lightsabers, and the raw material the Empire seeks on the planet Jedha to create the main weapon on the Death Star.

And for an orphaned delinquent who gets broken out of prison to lead this team, Jyn is also quite inspiring. At the end of the trailer, she’s imploring an unknown audience, “We’ll take the next chance, and the next, until we win, or the chances are spent.”

Instagram Users Post Black Squares After Trump Wins US Presidency

Donald Trump was just elected the 45th president of the United States. It was, in every possible way, a stunning victory. So stunning, in fact, that many members of the electorate don’t know how to respond.

Except on Instagram.

As Trump took the stage early this morning, users of the photo-sharing service began posting flat black images instead of photos. Most of the images don’t have captions so it’s hard to tell the true intent, but the message seems to be that Trump’s win portends dark times ahead.

Throughout the election, Instagram has been a place for users to post memes, “I Voted” photos (and sometimes their ballots, even if that is legally dubious), and other messages of political support, so this series of images marks a subdued and stark end to the presidential campaign. It will also likely not be the last trend to hit the photo-sharing site in the coming weeks. Like the Pepe the Frogs and the sniffs and the “This Is Fines” before it, many more memes will follow this black square.

This Apocalyptic Tweet Predicted the World Series 2 Years Ago

Last night’s championship-deciding Game 7 of the World Series was one of the most dramatic in the history of baseball. The Chicago Cubs, a team without a title since 1908, facing off against the Cleveland Indians, who hadn’t won in 68 years. An early lead for the Cubs, then a blown save in the 8th inning as Cleveland tied the game 6-6 on a home run. And as if that didn’t create enough drama as the game headed into extra innings, there was a rain delay. It’s a situation nobody could’ve predicted.

Except this guy:

2016 World Series.

Cubs vs Indians

And then the world will end with the score tied in game seven in extra innings #apocalypse

One Twitter user, sadly a Cleveland Indians fan, predicted almost this exact scenario back in 2014. The Cubs, the Indians, Game 7, and the rain delay. Thankfully it didn’t end with the apocalypse, and merely the Cubs winning the team’s first World Series in 108 years, bringing the end to the most tortuous title drought in all of sports. But the sudden Twitter fame may be small comfort to the Cleveland fan who made the prediction after the Indians squandered a 3-1 lead in the series.

No More Waiting for Gadot: The New WonderWoman Trailer Is Here!

Doctor Strange may be the talk of the comic book movie universe right now, but Diana Prince has never been one to let the boys have all the fun. Case in point: The latest trailer for Wonder Woman, in which the Amazonian warrior princess (played by the actually perfect Gal Gadot) takes the ass-kickery that made her the highlight of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and turns it up to 11 during World War I. She shoots arrows! She uses her Bracelets of Submission to deflect bullets! She has a friggin’ sword in her dress! She is also not here to take any kind of orders from Steve Trevor (Chris Pine). Check out the new trailer for director Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman, which hits theaters June 2, 2017, above.

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Look around your office. Is that “Hang in There Baby” poster looking a little faded? Do you no longer need an image of a sunset to remind you that, yes, you can even? Then it’s time to get some new motivational posters—courtesy of Facebook. Since 2010, the social network has been producing its own propaganda images in its Analog Research Lab art studio, and now a small collection of the posters from former Facebook designers Ben Barry and Everett Katigbak is up for auction. The images, which graced the walls of Facebook’s dozens of global offices, are expected to bring in between $400 and $600—if not more—per lot, according to seller Heritage Auctions. Check out the posters, which tout slogans ranging from “Stay humble” to “Move fast and break things,” above and head here to start bidding on the next image you want to brighten your cubicle.